Illustration by Jesse Wisinski

Lisa Pierce, LEED AP. I like that. It looks good. It sounds professional. It looks like I know what I’m doing. But do I? If I pass the exam I get to put LEED AP on my business card, e-mail signatures and to hang a certificate on my wall. If people question my professional opinion I could underline it in my e-mails for emphasis.

I was dubbed the LEED expert at the office because I regularly consult LEED guidelines. I do this so frequently in fact, that I became irritated by having to access the guidelines online every time and I printed all of them – some 600 pages of information. That’s not green. I know that. I’m sorry, but as much as I love the internet, I love having a hard copy to look at, pages to turn, lines to highlight, tabs to organize, etc.

I printed out all of the LEED guidelines so that I could easily refer to them anytime I needed, and I was starting to become really familiar with them - then the USGBC introduced LEED 2009. I’m still waiting for the pages to print.

Anyway, I was preparing to prepare for the LEED AP exam, deciding which USGBC courses and workshops I should attend, when I read that the LEED 2009 exam will have a 20% pass rate. That wasn’t very reassuring. Then I read that I would no longer meet the credentials for LEED AP status. For those of you who are not yet aware, to become a LEED AP after March 31, 2009 you must show documentation of your work on a LEED project within the last 2-3 years. If you cannot show proof of participation then you can only earn the LEED Green Associate title.

I’m a writer, not an architect. But I write for architects. I read the same publications you do, visit the same websites, attend the same trade shows, write your continuing education units, we may even eat the same thing for lunch, but I’m just not good at drawing. (I know it’s much more than that, but stay with me here, please). I even went through the five stages of loss, which you might vaguely remember from an intro to psychology class.

At first, I wasn’t sure that I read the credential correctly; I re-read it a few more times just to make sure I was reading under the correct column (denial). Then I thought, that maybe I could convince the USGBC that mine was a special circumstance, that I still deserve a shot at the accreditation (bargaining). Of course they would say no, so I became angry (anger) and felt undervalued (this will count as despair). Finally, I accepted that perhaps this is a good thing, for all of us (acceptance).

After all of that (it was really only about 30 minutes) I learned that I still have a shot at “the title” (queue the inspirational music). I’ve begun to prepare for the LEED AP exam and will take the exam before the new credentialing guidelines are implemented. I’m doing this for all of us. For me to be able to communicate on your level I need to have this credential.

Do you think that the USGBC is fairly limiting who can earn the LEED AP title? Or do you think that the creation of the Green Associate category is unfairly denying the opportunity to earn this title? The same dilemma has happened in law and medicine; the bar exam used to be open to anyone and at some point someone just decided to call himself a doctor.

For more information about the LEED 2009 accreditation requirements click here. If you have questions about the LEED 2009 guidelines I should be able to answer your questions - I think the printer has finished printing the updated guidelines. If you’ll excuse me, I have some highlighting to do.